Spiritual coping behaviors among injured urban black men in Philadelphia.

Only ten men from one city were interviewed, so the findings may not apply to other Black men, other places, or other trauma survivors. The study was a pilot and the authors say the findings are intended to generate hypotheses, not to guide definitive practice. Participants were drawn from a parent study and had to agree to be recontacted, so they may not represent injured Black men who did not participate. Men receiving treatment for depression or PTSD and men with self-inflicted injury were excluded, so the findings say little about those groups. The interviews were conducted by a Black man, and the authors note this may have shaped what participants shared. The study did not measure whether spiritual coping changes mental health, recovery, or re-injury risk.

The authors declared no conflict of interest. The article is listed as supported by NIH extramural and U.S. government P.H.S. research support.

Do not conclude that prayer, fasting, or video games prevent re-injury or treat trauma. This was a small qualitative study of what men described, not a test of whether these practices work.